This week’s anime music releases contains a light dash of anime soundtracks, mostly in the realms of Toshio Masuda’s music for Kamisama Hajimemashita‘s second season and a smattering of artists for Mekakucity Actors that includes some well-known artists like Teddyloid and ANANT-GARDE EYES. But that’s to be expected since we’re in an anime music doldrums. The last season just ended after all and the new season hasn’t shown much of its true colors yet. So we’ll have to see how that goes. With that light load in mind, here’s a look at what’s coming out this week:

Anime Openings and Ending Themes

Tamayura ~Sotsugyou Shashin~

Album Name: Kore karaArtist: Maaya SakamotoPurchase at:CDJapan
When Maaya Sakamoto performed the opening theme for the Tamayura OVA, I absolutely loved her cover and was hoping to see more of her. And with the release of the Tamayura movie, it looks like we will! The anime focuses on four girls, one of whom is very interested in photography and you all get to see them explore life, mature, and come closer to achieving their dreams. All signs indicate that this movie will be more of the same, and that should give us a beautiful serene song from Maaya Sakamoto.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

Album Name: Suki datte IenakuteArtist: Yukari TamuraPurchase at:CDJapan
I do like Yukari Tamura’s voice as Nanoha in the Nanoha series, so her appearance here is likely going to be a treat. While she doesn’t hold quite a candle to the vocal prowess that Nana Mizuki can deliver, she does a good job of singing in character, so there’s much to like here, assuming all the past Nanoha shows are of any indication. Or so we hope.

Anime Soundtracks and Albums

Kamisama Hajimemashita◎

Album Name: Kamisama Hajimemashita◎ Original Soundtrack OtodamashuArtist: Toshio MasudaPurchase at:CDJapan
There’s not a whole lot that needs to be said about Toshio Masuda’s skills as a composer seeing just how well he’s been able to deliver on soundtracks for shows like Mushishi. His works carry a sort of atmosphere that’s just really absorbing and he’s also capable of drumming up some good melodies for shounen anime like Naruto. While I haven’t seen Kamisama Hajimemashita, I do have a lot of faith in Masuda bringing out yet another solid effort, and that means you shouldn’t take him lightly when he decides to write music for shoujo anime.

Unlimited Fafnir

Album Name: Unlimited Fafnir Original Soundtrack -Dragons High-Artist: R・O・NPurchase at:CDJapan
The simple fact is that I’m not really too familiar with Unlimited Fafnir and I’m not really too interested in exploring it. Ditto goes towards the soundtrack, which is composed by R・O・N, whose real name is Ryuta Iida. This guy has worked in anime before, having written the music for Shinrei Tantei Yakumo and Togainu no Chi, but again, these are some low-rated shows, so I wouldn’t expect a whole lot to come out of their soundtracks.

MEKAKUCITY ACTORS

Album Name: MEKAKUCITY M’s 1: MEKAKUCITY ACTORS VOCAL & SOUND COLLECTIONArtist: Jin, ANANT-GARDE EYES, TeddyLoid, Ishifuro, Ryosuke Nakanishi, sasakure.UKPurchase at:CDJapanMekakucity Actors‘ soundtrack comes with a bevy of artists whose portfolio of work is pretty excellent. The first one on that list is ANANT-GARDE EYES, who composed a large chunk of the soundtrack for Angel Beats. Then you have Teddyloid, whose penchant for electronica is widely respected, especially after all that fame he garnered through Panty and Stocking‘s OST. Suffice to say, there’s a risk that too many cooks spoil the broth, but if you were checking out this album anyway, it’s probably going to be a diverse mix that’ll match your tastes quite nicely.